titan_uranus

Another of you knobs with the 'you haven't played football, so shut up' rubbish. None of us have. FFS. Being an ex-AFL footballer is not a requirement to be able to express opinions on football.

If Toumpas doesn't excite you, I don't know what does. Finally we have a young midfielder who is showing marked improvement, is clearly learning from his mistakes, and has skills that the rest of our side dream of.

Also, Fawad Ahmed comes home, Steve Smith is added to the squad (what joy!), and Ashton Agar is going to stick around the squad like he did in India.

Brilliant: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-sacks-cricket-coach-mickey-arthur-on-eve-of-ashes-20130624-2orlv.html Mickey Arthur has just been sacked.

Locked to the top of the first page (like the Code of Conduct thread).

Forgot about Bird. He might get a game over Starc. But Siddle surely starts, surely. Our best and most consistent fast bowler both against India and over the summer. Also just cracked his maiden first class century.

I don't know what to do with the batting. It's so weak. I want to see Watson bowling - he's not good enough as a batsman only, so he has to bowl or just not play. One or the other. He should be batting lower down the order to accommodate the bowling (i.e. not 1-3). Rogers and Cowan should open. Clarke to bat at 4. Outside of that, I don't know. Hughes is crap. Khawaja is worse. Haddin and Wade can't bat higher than 6, really. So maybe this: Rogers Cowan Hughes Clarke Watson Haddin Wade Starc Siddle Pattinson Lyon This isn't a team that is going to win the Ashes, unfortunately. We'll do OK bowling England out, but we're not going to be able to put enough runs on the board. Rogers and Clarke are the only batsmen that give me confidence; one of them has a dodgy back and the other, knowing the selectors, might not get a game in favour of the most undeserving hack in Australian cricket right now. Also, Lyon has to start over Ahmed. Ahmed needs to find his feet at this level. Give him time to just be around the side and to get a feel for what bowling at a high level consistently is going to take. Rushing him in to an Ashes XI could break him.

I'm sick of David Warner. I want him out of the side, and I guess this is a good way to start. Hopefully, if the selectors have any sense, they won't pick him for the first Test. To do so would be to say 'if you have talent, then it doesn't matter if you're stupid, rude, uncouth, ill-disciplined, or immature, you can still walk into the Australian side'. Moreover, he'll have had 0 warm-up games, and his recent 'form' is despicable. Warner is not a required player. Not even close. Rogers and Cowan to open.

Take the Indian squad: Warner, Cowan, Hughes, Clarke, Watson, Smith, Khawaja, Wade, Haddin, Henriques, Maxwell, Doherty, Lyon, Siddle, Starc, Pattinson, Johnson. I cut from that squad Khawaja, Watson, Haddin, Henriques, Maxwell, Doherty and Johnson. Henriques, Maxwell and Doherty drop themselves. Khawaja isn't good enough, and I don't think ever will be good enough. He struggled against swing bowling when he last played Test cricket, continually pushing outside off without covering the line, so I can't see how England will suit him. Watson doesn't add to the side. He doesn't score enough runs to hold his spot as a batsman, and even if he bowls, he still doesn't score enough runs to be in the top 6. Time to cut our losses, find a real batsman, and move on. Johnson is just too far back in the queue for a fast-bowling spot (provided we have a full choice of players). His form in England also requires him to be injury-cover at best. Haddin didn't do anything to disgrace himself, but I feel we need to move on with our keepers. To that squad, then, I add Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Shaun Marsh, George Bailey, Chris Rogers, Tim Paine and Fawad Ahmed/Jon Holland. Bird, for mine, starts the first Test in the Ashes as the third pace option behind Siddle and Pattinson. Starc is inconsistent and doesn't swing it as regularly as Bird does. It's line ball though, but Bird's on the plane regardless. Cummins also heads over as a back-up paceman, but to me he needs to show form for Australia A in the lead-up series before he edges into the top three pacemen. Handy back-up, though. In terms of batsmen, Shaun Marsh is more than good enough to be a Test cricketer. He was in a terrible mental state in 2011/2012, which saw him capitulate over our summer. He's been reprimanded and disciplined for being a loose cannon, but since he's returned, his form has been great, and much better than his 'rivals' for the batting spots. Mainly, though, he's actually a batsman, unlike the attempted all-rounders we've been trying to use. Bailey can't do much more before getting selected, and it's a good idea to get someone in there who can lead if Clarke can't be on the field (especially with Watson and Haddin staying in Australia). Chris Rogers has a proven record in England, averaged 50 this Shield season with three 100s, and deserves to be back-up. Tim Paine is a better batsman than Haddin, and would have been our first-choice keeper if it wasn't for his hand injury. He deserves to be around the squad and learning, rather than wasting away in Australia. Fawad Ahmed gets to be the back-up spinner, but doesn't play unless Lyon gets injured (can't imagine any pitch in England warranting two spinners). If he is ineligible, Jon Holland hopefully has healed by then, and gets the spot. Stay away from Doherty and Maxwell. If Cummins and Bird aren't fit, Ryan Harris is next, and then it's a toss up between reinstating Johnson, or Ben Hilfenhaus. Or Josh Hazlewood. Warner stays, but with Rogers in the squad, he has to make runs early. We shouldn't persist with him if his tendency to flash outside off with no technique continues to reap him sub-20 scores. Hughes stays, but moves down the order, to take the pressure off him batting at 3. Smith also stays, to my chagrin, because we need to reward players who perform and show application, and, as much as it pains me to say it, he did this in India. He doesn't bowl as anything other than a part-timer, though. My XI for the first Test: Cowan Warner Marsh Clarke Hughes Smith Wade Pattinson Siddle Bird Lyon

Pity we're frittering away our bowlers' good work with more insipid batting. Opening with Maxwell = attempt to prevent backlash for picking him in the first place. He's crap. Shouldn't play for us again in the near future. Watson and Warner are living on credits long, long used up. I don't want to see them in the first Ashes Test (I know they'll be there, but undeservedly). Our bowlers haven't been great this series, but our batting has been worse (as per usual). We need refreshment of the top 6 for England. Marsh, Doolan, Rogers, Burns, Maddinson, White, McDonald, I don't care who. We can't keep playing Warner, Watson, Hughes and Smith as four of our top 6/7. Edit: Heard an interesting fact today. Apparently, from three Tests each, Nathan Lyon has faced more balls batting than Shane Watson. Don't know what the actual figures are though.

Really? I disagree completely - after how we've played the first three Tests, to turn it around and get some competitiveness, and/or a win, would be great for the players, as well as the coaches, and will help curb the Indian team's arrogance. No one would have thought we'd be close to them this match, so to prove them wrong and to get a bit of confidence/form would be good. Hilfenhaus has to be about 4 places back. Surely he's behind Pattinson, Siddle, Starc, probably Bird, Johnson and Cummins too.

Finally something of a contest in this series. Lyon is bowling his heart out, has 3 and should have 4 (Tendulkar was pretty adjacent on a missed sweep earlier). Siddle also bowling well (as per usual). I really hope Lyon can get a bag of wickets, to make the haters shut up, to give him more confidence, and to show that we do have a spinner who can get it done if we just let him try. Edit: Next over, Lyon has Dhoni dropped, but then gets Tendulkar LBW. Good stuff. They're 5/180, a very different look to their score compared to recent Tests. Their lower order finally to be tested properly; Jadeja, Ashwin and Kumar can all bat, but they're all flakey.

Agree, especially re: Lyon. He cops a lot (even getting dropped) for not taking wickets when people expect them on India's turners, but India's pitches are so much drier than ours, it's a different type of spin that gets wickets. Lyon's a better bowler in Australia (and South Africa, even), where the pitches bounce more. His best bowling is when he gets bounce, not when he gets ripping turn.

How much longer can we keep carrying Warner? His irresponsible batting is getting beyond control. Cowan becomes the third (at least) Australian to get out sweeping. That's really dumb. Watson's not in good enough form to be in the side, let alone captain. The decision to give Wade out looked a shocker.

Losing a Test after making 400 in the first innings is bad. Losing that Test in 4 days is pathetic. Our fight to the end masks that. David Warner's series has been terrible. The manner in which he has gotten out belies his bad attitude and inability to change his game to the conditions. Swiping at a half-volley without moving his feet in the opening over was just despicable; in previous Tests he's gotten out sweeping hastily, too. I know he's made a couple of half centuries, but these batting tracks are roads and we should be getting runs out of everyone. His attitude is a problem. Hughes got a rough deal, but I doubt he'd have gone much further with that innings, he looked bogged down against spin. He's still a problem. Henriques is terrible, shouldn't be playing. He's riding on credits earned from his batting in the first Test, but that's not fair. He has to be able to bat in the top 6 or be a frontline bowler. He's neither. Get him out of there. Smith did his best, but Smith showed how bad his bowling is, meaning he has to be a top batsman to hold his spot. His 92 was good, but if he holds his spot, he needs to lift his average and score runs heavily, as he's not close to an all-rounder. If he can't average 40+, he can't stay. I don't hold high hopes for him doing this. I thought Siddle's effort was fantastic; Starc bowls well at times, but goes missing for far too long. Doherty is pathetic, Lyon tried much harder but just isn't good enough to get Indians out in India. We will be able to take 20 wickets in England. Pattinson, Siddle, Starc, Johnson, Bird, Hilfenhaus, Cummins, Hazlewood, Harris. Lyon will also bowl better with the bounce he should get from English pitches. I'm confident we can bowl them out, we just need to be able to score more than them (highly unlikely, at this stage). To me, Clarke and Siddle are the only two members of the current XI who are certainties for the first Ashes Test.

I've been pretty happy with Cheteshwar Pujara this series. Brad Haddin's batting in Mohali wasn't as disgraceful as usual, which also helped my cause.

Exactly. If you missed a deadline in your job, you'd get punished. It's not on. Remember, this is a 16-man party. The other 12 got it done. Why didn't these four? Above this kind of thing? Lazy? Dumb? Whatever the answer, it's not good enough, and they deserve to be punished. Dropping them for a Test might actually correct their poor attitudes. I'm convinced that there are attitude issues in Australian cricket at the moment that are hampering our progress. This probably goes deeper, but even if it doesn't, it's fair and reasonable. Wearing the Baggy Green is a privilege, not a right. These players have forgotten that.

To be honest, that Watson didn't do it doesn't surprise me. FIGJAM. I have no problem with this action being taken. Make Watson realise he's not God's answer to Australian cricket's problems, for one. If the others also didn't do what they were meant to, then so be it.

Amazing from NZ! Guptill may not get back - Rutherford looks good. Can't believe Fulton is playing Test cricket again, let alone doing well.

Nice to see that it's not just us who are struggling pre-Ashes.

i understand that putting Clarke at 3 or 4 gives us more runs for less wickets. But it doesn't get close to solving the true problem; we need 6 batsmen, we have 1.

Having watched some highlights, I'd start by dropping Maxwell. He's awful. Not even close to Test quality. Our obsession with all-rounders leads us to play people like him (Steven Smith is another). He's so far off being good enough, it's almost funny. I'd also drop at least one of the top 4. Watson would be my preferred choice, but it'll be Hughes I think. The replacement I guess has to be Khawaja. Bowling-wise, replace Maxwell with Lyon. Should never have been dropped. Doherty's terrible, but we need two spinners, and Maxwell's not even close to a Test spinner. Doherty doesn't get on the plane to England. In terms of Henriques, who is batting at 7 (and therefore not a good enough batsman), but bowling as a third pacemen (and therefore not a good enough bowler), he has to bat at 6 or be dropped. If we are clamouring for an all-rounder, he has to be able to bat in the top 6 or be a frontline bowler. Not a little bit of one and a little bit of the other. I should say, though, that I don't read this as an automatic loss of the Ashes. England is totally different to India, and we'll be able to bowl England out with our pacemen, who are just as good as theirs. Yes, we'll have issues with spin, but Robin Peterson and Rangana Herath didn't tear us to shreds in Australia, where pace is better, and if we can deal with Steyn/Philander for two out of three Tests here, I think we can deal with Anderson/Finn over there.

I don't like it. The answer is not to put Clarke at 3 or 4 and shift a crap batsman down, or debut another crap batsman at 5. It's to find batsmen who are good enough. To me, it's papering over the cracks. Anyway, that's not the issue. As I said, we can bat Clarke where we want, but we're going to be beaten every time in India if we only have Clarke. Warner's not good enough. His flashy 100s look good, but he can't play spin. Hughes is worse, and is likely to be dropped. If he goes this time, he may well go for good. Cowan consistently shows technique, but consistently gets out. Not sure where he's going to go. Watson simply isn't good enough, and shouldn't be in the side at all (his batting average is terrible for a batsman, he's not bowling, so that's that. IMO he should be dropped first, but that's not going to happen). I have no idea, however, who to replace anyone with. IMO Shaun Marsh is a great batsman; his form last summer was abysmal but I wonder if something mental was affecting him. His form is returning and I think he could get back in. Usman Khawaja is like Cowan; looks good, doesn't score enough. George Bailey is just OK, David Hussey too old, Cameron White not much better than Watson. Alex Doolan is a flash in the pan. Andrew McDonald is good enough (and, unlike Henriques or Maxwell, a genuine all-rounder), but injured I think. I'd pick him in a heartbeat to bat at 6 and replace Henriques or Maxwell if he was fit. Australian batting is not in a crisis. Yet. But it's heading that way.

He shouldn't do it. He's batting brilliantly at 5, keep him there. We wouldn't be worried about our best batsman being at 5 if we didn't have a terrible top 4. The answer is to fix the top 4. None of Warner, Cowan, Hughes or Watson have shown long-term consistency, nor the required technique or ability to score runs, to be a proper Test batsman. They can't all stay.

I didn't see a ball bowled yesterday, but I can imagine what happened. The pitch was flat, Siddle and Pattinson bowled their hearts out but didn't extract any movement, rendering them virtually useless, Doherty was economical, which is his speciality, but bowled maybe 2 threatening deliveries all day, whilst Maxwell tried to be attacking but had no consistency and was attacked by Vijay and Pujara. We got nowhere by dropping Lyon, and now we're in a worse situation than before. Doherty is not a Test bowler, Maxwell is not close to a Test all-rounder, and in India we need much better than that. Thanks .